60 O Brother Where Art Thou Quotes From The Coen Brothers
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O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 crime comedy-drama film written, produced, co-edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning in supporting roles.
The story very closely mirrors that of Homer’s Odyssey in regards to the challenges and triumphs faced. Ulysses is the main character, and though he tells his companions they are looking for treasure, he is really seeking his wife (Holly Hunter) back home, who is dangerously close to falling into the arms of another man.
Who were the three main characters in O Brother Where Art Thou? Plot. Three convicts, Ulysses Everett McGill, Pete, and Delmar O’Donnell, escape from a chain gang and set out to retrieve a supposed treasure Everett buried before the area is flooded to make a lake.
Pete : Well hell, it ain't square one! Ain't nobody gonna pick up three filthy, unshaved hitch-hikers, and one of them a know-it-all that can't keep his trap shut. Ulysses Everett McGill : Pete, the personal rancor reflected in that remark I don't intend to dignify with comment.
Much later, after the scene with the Cyclops shown below, they are surprised to see Pete in a movie theater, once again part of a chain gang. They explain to him that they thought he was a toad. After he's free from prison, they explain it to him again and he tells them they never did turn him into a toad.
The title comes from Preston Sturges's classic 1941 film, Sullivan's Travels, in which it is the name of the social allegory that fictional filmmaker John L. Sullivan wishes to make to redeem a career he thinks he has wasted on light comedies.
Daniel von BargenDaniel von Bargen: Sheriff Cooley.
Upon waking, Delmar finds Pete's clothes lying next to him, empty except for a toad. Delmar is convinced the women were sirens and transformed Pete into the toad.
The opening titles inform us that the Coen Brothers' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is based on Homer's The Odyssey . The Coens claimed their "Fargo" was based on a true story, but later confided it wasn't; this time they confess they haven't actually read The Odyssey . Still, they've absorbed the spirit.
While the film maintains a critical perspective on overt American racism, staging a scene in which the protagonists save a black character from getting lynched by the Ku Klux Klan, it also employs tropes that some have noted are in line with racially insensitive Hollywood archetypes.
Dapper-dan definition (informal) A man who dresses and is groomed in a fancy, elegant, or fastidious manner.
The writing from the Coen brothers depicts many parallels between the two stories, almost as if O Brother, Where Art Thou? parodies the Odyssey. The Coen brothers accurately portray the Odyssey and Odysseus' struggles. The Coen brothers take careful thought into remastering Homer's writings.
Sheriff Cooley (Daniel von Bargen) He's implied at various points to be the Devil himself, aiming to collect on a debt he's owed. He represents Poseidon from The Odyssey being a completely antagonistic authority figure who is constantly in the way of Everett's journey home.
Sheriff Cooley is the main antagonist of the 2000 crime comedy-drama film O Brother Where Art Thou?. He was portrayed by the late Daniel von Bargen.
Delmar O'Donnell: Oh, you can have the whole thing. Me and Pete already had one apiece. We ran across a whole... gopher village.
Tommy Johnson: I had to be up at that there crossroads last midnight, to sell my soul to the devil.
Delmar O'Donnell, Pete: He has no friends to help him out. Ulysses Everett McGill: Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger, my face you never will see no more. But there is one promise that is given, I'll meet you on God's golden shore. Delmar O'Donnell, Pete: He'll meet you on God's golden shore.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Delmar, what are you talking about? We've got bigger fish to fry.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Pete, it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.
Ulysses Everett McGill: I am a man of constant sorrow, I've seen trouble all my days. I bid farewell to old Kentucky, the place where I was born and raised.
Ulysses Everett McGill: So I borrowed it until I did know. Pete: That don't make no sense! Ulysses Everett McGill: Pete, it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart. Blind Seer: You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in chains.
He enters the bank, firing his weapon in the air and giving a loud self appreciating speech. What makes the line so memorable, is the reaction of those in the bank. While scared at first, the longer he talks the more confused they seem.
What adds to the humor of the line is the fact that it is completely ignored. No sarcastic remark or look is given, showing that while Delmar isn't smart, the others aren't far behind him.
The shocked reaction of Delmar and his loud scream is what makes this line so quotable. It is the ridiculousness of the entire predicament that further cements this as a famous movie line. Delmar goes through a good chunk of the movie carrying what he believes to be Pete in a box, and the audience enjoys some dark humor when the toad meets its fate later in the film.
During the police chase with George Nelson, he asks Delmar to hand him his "chopper," which Delmar obliges. Upon handing George his weapon, he asks him while line of work he is in. Delmar is shown on more than one occasion to not be the smartest in the group, but this is one line that pushes that to the limit.
When he finally finds them, he discovers his wife has found another man and told his daughters he was in a train accident to prevent them from knowing he was in prison. When Everett is talking to his daughters about this, they keep letting him know that their mother's new man is a suitor in a comedic repetitive way.
One of the first places the boys lay low after escaping prison, is Pete's cousin's farm. They ask Wash where his wife is, which he responds by looking at his son and saying that she "R-U-N-N-O-F-T." This is comedic as not only is he spelling to save his son from knowing the truth, but he isn't even spelling a real word.
The shopkeep offers him a similar product but Everett refuses saying he is a "Dapper Dan Man." This is one of the calmer scenes in the film, yet it still has a quotable, fan-favorite scene proving that the Coens can make anything memorable.
Blind Seer: You are looking for great fortune. Although you will find the fortune you desire, it may not be the one that you are looking for.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Me and the old lady are gonna pick up the pieces and retie the knot, mixaphorically speakin’.
He repeats a word most people wouldn’t use, proving his point. He refers to himself as “the paterfamilias” when he wants to convince his daughters and wife that he is truly the head of the family.
He tells his daughters that he was killed in a train accident to keep them from learning that he is in prison. Everett’s daughters keep telling Everett that their mother is now a suitor, in a funny repetitive manner, as he talks to them about it.
Everett says he is a “Dapper Dan Man” and refuses to buy a similar product from the shopkeeper. Although this is one of the more calm scenes, it still features a fan-favorite scene that proves the Coens can make anything memorable.
This can cause nerves. It may work if the line is fast and accurate. Everett has used this line more than once when Everett is under fire or cornered.
Everett is extremely protective of his hair and will only use Dapper Dan. He makes it his mission every time he runs out to find it before using any other hair products. In the years that have followed his arrest, he soon realizes how difficult it is to find hair grease.
Delmar says this to Pete when he sees him in the chain gang at the movies. Delmar believed his friend was turned into a toad by the three Sirens at the river, since all that was left of Pete when Delmar and Everett woke up was his clothes with a toad inside the shirt. Delmar is the most gullible one in the bunch, and is shocked to find that his friend is still alive.
After Homer Stokes is carried out of his own campaign dinner for speaking out against the Soggy Bottom Boys, Pappy O'Daniel takes the opportunity to win over Stokes' supporters. He gets up and professes his love and admiration for the Soggy Bottom Boys, knowing that doing so will win over the crowds, who unconditionally love the musicians. Not only does he profess his support for the musicians, but he also pardons them for their past crimes, using his forgiving attitude as a way to differentiate himself from the unforgiving Stokes.
He tells them this because he has told the Sheriff everything about the treasure, and he knows that the authorities are planning to set a trap for Delmar and Everett when they go and seek it.
Everett says this about his wife, Penny, after he realizes that she has lied to their daughters about his whereabouts and told them that he was hit by a train . Offended by Penny's coldness, Everett rails against the female sex, suggesting that women are untrustworthy and two-faced. While Everett has remained cool and composed for much of the movie, here he shows his more emotional and reactive side. Having traveled all this way to be reunited with his family, he is incensed to find that they don't want him back.
Delmar O'Donnell: Oh, you can have the whole thing. Me and Pete already had one apiece. We ran across a whole... gopher village.
Tommy Johnson: I had to be up at that there crossroads last midnight, to sell my soul to the devil.
Delmar O'Donnell, Pete: He has no friends to help him out. Ulysses Everett McGill: Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger, my face you never will see no more. But there is one promise that is given, I'll meet you on God's golden shore. Delmar O'Donnell, Pete: He'll meet you on God's golden shore.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Delmar, what are you talking about? We've got bigger fish to fry.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Pete, it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.
Ulysses Everett McGill: I am a man of constant sorrow, I've seen trouble all my days. I bid farewell to old Kentucky, the place where I was born and raised.
Ulysses Everett McGill: So I borrowed it until I did know. Pete: That don't make no sense! Ulysses Everett McGill: Pete, it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart. Blind Seer: You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in chains.